Virtual tour recaps Notre Dame history ahead of reopening

An exhibition exploring highlights of Notre Dame Cathedral’s history ahead of its reopening in December following an April 2019 fire will run through Sept. 1 at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul.

The exhibition, “Notre-Dame de Paris, the Augmented Exhibition: 850 Years of History and Resilience at Your Fingertips,” offers an immersive and interactive experience, explained Bruno de Sa Moreira, CEO and co-founder of Histovery, a French startup that specializes in augmented reality. The company launched the touring exhibition in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates in November 2019, seven months after the limestone landmark saw its attic, roof and spire mauled by a blaze.

“The project is to share with you the complete history of Notre Dame de Paris since the beginning,” de Sa Moreira said during a preopening tour Monday at the NPMK in Seoul, the 13th stop globally and second in Asia, after Shanghai.

“We will travel through 900 years of history. We will make stops at key moments when you will meet main characters of that story,” he added, referring to the medieval Parisian cathedral whose constructions plans began in 1160. It took nearly three centuries to complete Notre Dame -- “our lady” in French, referring to the Virgin Mary.

Visitors will be given a “HistoPad” tablet to revisit key moments in the cathedral’s history, including the day of the April fire and recovery efforts since, narrated with photos and graphics.

The 860-year-old cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rethinking what such heritage means and how to preserve it is the aim of the special exhibition, according to Chung Yong-jae, the director of the NPMK.